


The Care and Feeding of Med Students

by Codydarkstalker



Series: In A Better World (Deep Dish Nine) [4]
Category: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, deep dish nine fandom
Genre: AU, Deep Dish Nine, Drabbles, Fluff, Humans, Julian is a nub, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 10:39:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5287502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Codydarkstalker/pseuds/Codydarkstalker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Julian Bashir might be living on his own for the first time, but he is far from alone. <br/>Basically, Julian is cute but kinda out of his depth and his friends help him out when he fails at basic adulting in the ways all college kids do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Care and Feeding of a Med Student

Benjamin Sisko took off his apron and stretched his arms over his head as he yawned, grimacing as he felt his back cracking. He had been working for the last eight hours straight with no breaks, and he was desperate to go home. There had been two large parties that night, and it had kept the kitchen extremely busy. Worf was a decent enough worker, but it was still a lot of work for two people. 

He had let the other man go, since Worf was the one who had come in early to do prep work. Now he looked at the pile of extra food in front of him. This was a common problem with large parties, they weren’t used to family style service and ordered too much food. It pained him to throw it all away since it was totally untouched, but there was no way he would serve leftovers to other customers. He wondered if he should pack some of it up for Jake.

He looked at the clock and frowned. It was already late, Jake would probably be asleep by the time he got home. It was hard sometimes, missing out on spending time with his son, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He had to work, and without Jennifer around that meant that Jake would occasionally have to spend the odd night by himself. Normally on nights like that Nog would spend the night, and the two of them would stay up late eating pizza from the restaurant and doing homework (or playing video games more likely, but Ben was more than willing to overlook it from time to time, kids were kids after all) so at least Jake wasn’t entirely alone. 

“The tables and front of house are all clean!” Julian leaned around the door and smiled. His hair was a mess and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked ready to drop any second. 

He had borrowed one of Sisko’s extra aprons to clean in, and the strings of it were wrapped double around his thin waist. He had taken his hat off after closing, and Sisko had to bite back the urge to tell the young man he needed a haircut. Not babying the staff was hard sometimes. 

Sisko nodded. “Thanks.” He paused and took in Julian’s haggard appearance. “You okay son?” He knew Julian had a busy schedule, what with school and work at the hospital, time spent in the pizzeria, and now time spent with Garak (although the less thought about that, perhaps, the better).

Julian shrugged one shoulder. “Just tired sir. School’s been keeping me a bit busier than usual.” He gave the older man a weak smile. “Nothing a good meal and some sleep won’t cure though.”

Sisko nodded. “Well, just go ahead and make sure the bathroom is all clean and the cleaning supplies away. That should be all for tonight.”

He waited for Julian to nod and hurry off before turning back to the leftover food. He suddenly knew just what to do. He smiled to himself and started to fill up a few of the Styrofoam take out boxes. He threw out the rest and finished wiping down the counters and loading the plates and utensils into the dishwasher. By the time he was finished and got to the front door, Julian was waiting. The young man was sitting in a chair, head tilted back, eyes closed. He looked like he might just fall asleep there if left alone long enough.

Sisko reached out and gently shook Julian’s shoulder. “Julian, wake up!”

Julian groaned and opened his eyes, blinking a few times in the bright lights. “Sorry, sorry. Didn’t meant to nod off like that,” he mumbled, rubbing at his face. He stood up and stretched, long arms reaching almost to the light fixtures. He smiled sheepishly at Sisko. “Guess I’m a bit more knackered than I realized.”

Sisko chucked and held out the large plastic bag in his arms. “here, maybe this will help you out.” 

Julian took the bag with a curious look, peeking inside. He smiled when he looked up. “Is this from the party earlier? Wow, you didn’t have to do this, really.” He lowered the bag again. “But thanks, it’s a big help. I never have time to cook.” 

Sisko smiled. “I can imagine. Believe me, I was just as bad at your age. When I was in school I used to go home and eat at my father’s place, as often as I could.” He opened the door and shooed Julian out. “Now, head home and get some rest. I don’t want to see you opening tomorrow.”

Julian gave him one last smile. “Thanks again, for the food and for...everything.”

Sisko smiled as he watched the boy hurry down the sidewalk. Maybe he would take the next day off and spend some times with Jake, make a big family dinner for the two of them.


	2. Chapter 2

Keiko O’Brien flicked a switch to turn the oven light on and crouched down to take a look at the contents. The cookies, chocolate peanut butter chip, were still not the perfect shade of golden brown she was looking for. 

“Mommy, are the cookies done?” Molly asked.

Keiko turned to see her daughter standing next to her, staring longingly at the oven. She was holding a gigantic box of crayons to her chest and pouting. 

“Sorry honey, they aren’t done yet,” she said, leaning down to smooth the little girl’s hair down. “But they will be soon. SO just go and color with Daddy and Julian for a little while okay?” She smiled when her nodded and rushed off to the living room with her crayons. 

It was nice, times like these, when her family was all together. Yoshi was in a play crib in the livingroom, chewing happily on a soft toy Julian had bought him, and Miles and Julian had spread out a bunch of paper on the floor so they could color with Molly. Miles worked long, hard hours, and sometimes he didn’t make it home for dinner at all, but this was one of the rare times where they could all be together as a family.

Keiko leaned around the doorway and smiled to herself. Julian was sprawled out on the floor, right next to Miles. She watched as Julian showed Molly how to draw a skeleton, using a white gel pen on black construction paper. Molly was sitting in rapt attention as Julian drew, telling her about all the parts of the body. Miles, next to them, was busy drawing airplanes. Miles almost always drew airplanes. 

Julian was good with the children. Keiko privately thought he would make an excellent pediatrician if he wanted, although she knew from talking to the young man it wasn’t a speciality he was very interested in. But still, he was great with the kids. After their second child Yoshi was born, Miles had had less time to spend with his young friend down at Quark’s bar, and she had felt bad for her husband. To her surprise, Julian had started coming by the house more, bringing board games and cases of beer and smiles. He would happily spend an afternoon on the livingroom floor with Miles and Molly, playing videogames or watching silly movies, while Yoshi dozed in his bassinet or played on the floor in his bouncy seat. 

Every time Julian came over, Keiko made a point of feeding the boy. She reasoned it was some sort of mothering instinct, when she saw the boy she just wanted to feed him. She was the same way with her own children and their friends, although Miles didn’t laugh at her so much when she did it to them. Julian didn’t complain though. In fact, he was always excited and appreciative when she gave him a tupperware full of leftovers to bring home after dinner, or popped in during a videogame session with Miles to drop off a big plate of crackers and homemade hummus. She usually tried to make something healthy, she knew about the eating habits of bachelors and suspected Julian wasn’t eating right. 

She was distracted from her thoughts by the sound of the oven beeping. She turned around and flicked the oven light on again, and saw the cookies were ready. She put on her oven mitts and carefully opened the oven and took them out, letting out a small sigh of contentment at the warm, sweet smelling air washed over her. She put the cookies on the oven top to cool and then turned to the rest of her task. She took two apples from the basket on the kitchen table and then grabbed a knife to begin her work. Each apple was first cut in half, and then in half again. She carefully removed the seeds and tough inside pieces with a paring knife, and then began to cut away at the peel. It was delicate work but it was the sort of thing she excelled at. 

By the time the cookies were done cooling the apples were ready. She had partly peeled them and cut the peels so they resembled little rabbits crouching on the plate. She smiled to herself and arranged them in a semi circle on a tray. Then she put a small pile of cooking in the middle. She grabbed the electric tea kettle, filled it, and then turned it on, fetching some mugs down from the shelf. She put a tea bag in each cup. Decaf sleepy time tea for Molly, Irish breakfast tea for Miles, and constant comment for Julian. She put oolong in her cup and then poured the water, setting the mugs on another tray. She was suddenly thankful for her time waitressing during college as she picked up the food and drinks, heading into the living room.

Julian looked up when he noticed her entering the room, scrambling to his feet to help her. He grinned when he saw the tray of snacks. It always made him a little pleased to have Keiko fussing over him like that. It wasn’t something he was used to, but it was nice nonetheless. 

Miles looked up from his spot and grinned. “Oh, honey you shouldn’t have,” he said, grunting a bit at the effort it took to get onto his feet again. He reached over and grabbed his mug of tea and a cookie. He knew that his wife had mostly made the snacks because Julian was over, but he was happy either way. he loved his wife, and her baking, and he even loved the way she fussed over his friend. 

Keiko shrugged, hiding her own little smile in her mug. “I just thought you guys could use a little treat.” She gave Molly a cookie and then turned to lean over the crib, seeing how Yoshi was doing. 

The baby cooed and put his chubby little arms in the air when he saw her, and Keiko picked him up with one arm, settling him onto her hip. He reached out for a cookie and she smiled, moving him away. 

“Sorry Yoshi, no cookies for babies,” Molly told him, patting his leg as she reached around her mother for her own mug. “And no tea either.”

Julian smiled and grabbed his mug and one of the apple bunnies. “Too bad for him hmm? He doesn’t get to enjoy this with the rest of us.” He ate the little apple critter in two neat bites and chased it down with a sip of tea, sighing contentedly at the warmth it spread through him.

“Did you drink a lot of tea at home then Julian?” Miles asked, grabbing for another cookie and pointedly avoiding his wife’s stern look. He liked the apple bunnies just fine, but the cookies were too tempting. 

Julian shrugged and grabbed another apple bunny. “Yeah, but my mom didn’t bake or anything so it wasn’t as nice.” He smiled at Keiko. 

Keiko felt something in her chest tighten, and she nudged the tray forward a bit. “Please Julian, have another cookie. I can always make more.” The smile he gave her reminded her of Molly and Yoshi so much it almost hurt, and for a moment all she wanted to do was reach out and grab the boy and drag him into a hug.


	3. Chapter 3

The television was on, the volume turned up to full volume. Julian sighed and settled back further into the couch cushions. The parade on the screen was bright and loud, he could make out a float shaped like a spaceship rolling down the city street. Above it was a massive balloon, shaped like a cartoonish version of a targ, a goofy grin between it’s tusks. It was sort of cute, in a silly way.

Julian stretched out, feet poking out from under his blanket for a moment, causing him to shiver slightly in the cool air. Watching the parade was sort of nice, but he was getting bored and a little hungry. He glanced down at his cellphone for a moment. It was Thanksgiving, and he was home alone, in his tiny, cold, apartment. He could call his family, maybe speak to his mother for a bit. She would appreciate it, he knew, but he couldn’t bring himself to dial the number. 

If he called, he would have to talk to his father, and even worse, he would have to listen to his family complain about how he wasn’t able to come home for the holiday. He had made up some story about pulling extra shifts at the hospital, a big test to study for, anything he could think of to make it clear there was no possible way for him to get home even though he really really wanted to. If he called now, it would probably just raise suspicions.

It wasn’t that Julian was really upset about not being home for the holiday. Thanksgiving with his family had never been a fun time. HIs mother would spend all her time in the kitchen fretting over an overly complicated meal. His father would start drinking early in the day, settling into an armchair by the television where he could keep an eye on the game. By mid afternoon the house would be swarming with his aunts and uncles and cousins, babies screaming, toddlers underfoot and every older relative full of questions about what Julian was going to do with his life. 

His father would grab him by the shoulder, just a bit too tight, and tell everyone how his brilliant son Jules was going to be a great doctor one day, maybe a heart surgeon or brain surgeon. He would probably go on to cure AIDS and cancer and a host of other diseases during his career. He would be rich and famous and bring the family pride. 

Those moments had been the bane of Julian’s young existence. His first Thanksgiving away from home had been spent in the dorms at his school. The food in the cafeteria had been awful, dry turkey and mushy stuffing and not enough gravy to go around. But it had been fun. He had been surrounded by friends in similar situations to him, all unwilling or unable to go home for the holiday. Someone had procured some Romulan Ale (he had no idea where they could have gotten it, none of them was Romulan) and spent the evening in a dorm lounge, stuffed full of food and slightly tipsy. They watched the parade together, and when it was over they switched the television to old Christmas movies, laughing together over the old claymation. 

Now Julian was home alone, with nothing but the television and some frozen dinners to keep him company. He had toyed with the idea of asking Garak to celebrate with him, but had backed out at the last second. He didn’t want to come across as needy, not when the relationship was still so new. He wasn’t even sure if Thanksgiving was a holiday Garak celebrated, being from Cardassia. 

So Julian decided to drown his sorrows alone. He had stocked up on beer, and was already on his second bottle. He twisted the cap off a third and poked at the remote next to him, watching the television screen switch to a seen of a happy family gather around a dinner table. He pressed again and it was a cooking show, a large Klingon man was butchering some sort of giant turkey.

“The first step to preparing your bird is to eviscerate it! You must plunge yur knife into the beast’s stomach, and pull down, hard. This should break the ribs apart, and cut the cartilage holding the chest cavity closed. You may then proceed to remove the entrails.” The large bearded man thrust a hand into the bird, and pulled out a handful of bloody organs. He looked down at them and then tossed them into a nearby bowl. “Since the organ meats of this animal are filled with filth, they are to be discarded. When the bird is empty of organ flesh, it may then be stuffed.”

Julian watched in a mixture of horror and fascination and horror as the man tore out the remaining intestines with a harsh growl, and threw the bloody remains into the bowl with such force it tipped, blood spilling out over the side. He then grabbed another bowl, this one full of some sort of meat and bread mixture and started to thrust great handfuls into the turkey.

“The next step is the stuffing. We are using a mix of whole wheat bread, and ground bok rat liver. It is important to cook the liver first, since the raw meat is unsuitable. We have mixed this with salt, pepper, and peppadugh spice. It is important to mix these evenly or the flavor will be off, and unfit for even a targ.” 

The Klingon finished stuffing the bird and put it in the oven. He paused to inform the viewers what the proper cook time and temperature. Then he turned his attention to a pile of root veggies and a large vegetable cleaver. It reminded Julian of the one that Worf used at work to prep pizza ingredients. He wondered if the man on television liked to sing opera when he cooked. 

“Stay tuned, in the next segment we will show you how to use the skull of the beast to form an impressive table display which will inspire respect in all of your Thanksgiving guests.” 

Julian raised an eyebrow at that. Klingon homemaking skills were certainly...unique. He was distracted from that line of thoughts by a knock at the door. He raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Kukalaka.

“Were you expecting company?” 

The bear stared at him silently, clearly just as surprised as he was. 

Julian rolled off of the couch, struggling to get his footing. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders like a cape and shuffled to the door, his socked feet making soft sounds on the ground.

The banging on the door increased in volume. 

“One second, one second! I’ll be right there.” 

Julian yanked the door open and made a small noise of surprise. 

“Garak?” Julian squeaked, his eyes going wide. 

Garak was standing in the hall, eyebrow cocked expectantly. He was dressed impeccably as usual in dark blue wool trousers and a charcoal grey shirt under a soft looking black cardigan in a pretty cabled pattern. He had two paper grocery bags in his arms. 

“Are you going to invite me in?” Garak asked. He shifted the bags in his arms. “These are a tad heavy.” He looked down at the bags meaningfully. Julian could make the top of a wine bottle in one of them.

Julian rushed to move out of the way, tugging on the blanket to make sure Garak didn’t step on it. He turned and looked around his apartment as he closed the door behind them, taking in the blanket nest on the couch, the empty beer bottles and generally sad state of things. Normally he would have put some effort into cleaning before Garak came over but he hadn’t been expecting anyone.

“Garak, what are you doing here?” Julian shuffled over to watch as Garak began unloading the bags. 

Garak looked up, hands stilling. “I ran into Mr. O’Brien downstairs this morning, he was getting some last minute things for his holiday meal with his family. I wished him a happy Thanksgiving and asked him to tell you the same from me.” He went back to unloading the bags, turning his face away from Julian. “He was quite surprised you know. He was under the impression you were spending the day with me. I told him I thought the same thing about his family.”

Garak pulled a bottle of wine, a loaf of fresh bread and a covered bowl of salad. Next he moved to the other bag and pulled out a pie, form the logo on the front Julian could see it was from the fancy bakery down the road, and then a large container of what appeared to be home made soup.

“It’s turkey soup. I didn’t have time to make anything more complicated, I’m sorry to say. But I think this will do nicely for the two of us, hmm?” Garak looked up and held out the soup bowl for Julian’s inspection. 

Julian looked down at the soup for a moment then turned his gaze back to Garak. The older man was looking away towards the television, which was still playing the Klingon cooking show, and pointedly not meeting Julian’s eye. Julian looked at him hard for a moment. He hadn’t asked Garak to spend the holiday with him because he didn’t want to seem needy, but now he wondered if the Cardassian had been offended by it. 

l”It looks wonderful Garak.” Julian smiled and leaned across the kitchen table to kiss the other man on the cheek. He was pleased to notice a the other man’s breath catch for just a moment, it was a subtle reaction for most but with Garak, it was almost a scream of delight.

Garak pulled back and smiled, putting down the soup and beginning to move around the kitchen. Julian perched on the edge of the counter and watched as Garak fussed with the food. He sliced the bread and began dressing the salad. He found a bottle of balsamic vinegar and some olive oil in the back of one of Julian’s cabinets and made a quick dressing. Julian smiled to himself as he watched. Garak looked so at home in his kitchen, so domestic. it was rather sweet. Garak even rolled back his sleeves to wash the salad, tattoos bright against the dark color of his sleeves. He was just about to start heating the soup when there was another knock at the door.

Julian turned to Garak with a questioning look. Garak simply shrugged and pulled his sleeves down, wiping his hands dry on a dish towel. Julian hopped down from his spot on the counter and shuffled to the door again. This time when he opened it he was faced with Miles O’Brien. 

Miles was wearing what looked like a hand knit sweater in a bright golden yellow that set off the pink in his cheeks. He smiled when he saw Julian, though it faltered a bit when he saw Garak standing behind him.

“Julian! Happy Thanksgiving! Uh, you too Garak.” Miles gave the Cardassian a half hearted smile before turning back to Julian. “I had heard you were alone today and I was going to ask if you were interested in joining me and Keiko and the kids for dinner.” He turned his head to regard Garak. The older man had retreated to the kitchen, rummaging around in the pantry. “I didn’t realize you would have company.”

Julian smiled. “I’m sorry Miles, I wasn’t expecting to do much of anything today. Garak just showed up a few minutes ago.” He turned and shot Garak a look. He had went from having no holiday plans to having a few too many. “Maybe we could work something out, have dinner together?” He gave Miles a wide eyed, pleading stare. He knew it was asking a lot of Miles to invite Garak over for a holiday meal, but he was hoping his friend could put his feelings aside this once.

Miles frowned. “All of us? Having Thanksgiving dinner together you mean?” Miles ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Keiko would tell me that today is about togetherness or something, but I was really hoping to just be together with people I liked.” 

Garak turned slightly and looked at Miles out of the corner of his eye. “I see you are truly in the holiday spirit O’Brien!”

Miles groaned and then nodded defeatedly. “Fine, fine, you can both come. Julian, don’t say I never did anything for you.”

Julian flung himself at his friend, throwing his arms around the Irishman’s shoulders. “Thanks Miles! I’m gonna go get dressed, and then Garak and I will join you guys, we have some extra food we can bring over.”

Eating with the O’Briens ended up being shockingly pleasant for everyone. Garak was shockingly good with the children. He let Molly sit on his lap and pick food off his plate and when Yoshi cried he wa the first to offer to go warm a bottle for Keiko. Julian watched him with a fond smile on his face. He hid his snickering behind a napkin when Miles and Garak started arguing about the parade (Garak had said the pop singer on the main float was a bit of a hack, an opinion Julian actually shared, but Miles had become indignant and said Garak only disliked her because he hated all federation music). 

They moved to the living room after dinner and Julian settled on the floor to color with molly while Keiko warmed the pie Garak had brought and the cookies she had made and fixed tea for everyone. Garak looked surprised but somewhat pleased when someone gave him the baby to hold, and Miles put the game on. For a brief moment when Julian looked around he could see the normal, happy family he had always wanted growing up. Then the baby made a happy noise as he grabbed a handful of Garak’s long hair, and Miles burst into laughter at the other man’s hiss of pain. Keiko rushed over to help while Molly collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles, telling Garak that was what he got for having pretty girl hair like mommy, since Yoshi liked to pull on her hair too. Julian hid his grin behind his teacup. In so many ways, this was better than any normal family could have been.


	4. Chapter 4

“Julian, the Gagh is supposed to be moving! That is a sign it is fresh, and still full of nutrients.” Worf grumbled and took another bite of his pizza, glaring at his coworker. 

Work had been fairly slow that day since it was a Bajoran holiday, one that required followers of the faith to abstain from things like alcohol, sex, and even junk food. Mr. Sisko had decided the best idea was to close up early, and then taken the opportunity to invite the staff to eat at the pizzeria before going home. 

Jadzia reached over and patted Julian on the arm. “Come on Julian it’s not that bad.” She smiled and returned to her own slice of ham and pineapple pizza. Gagh pizza really wasn’t that bad. She just wasn't in the mood for it just then.

Julian pulled a face and looked down at the pizza. Normally Julian was a fan of basic toppings like mushroom and onion, maybe once in a while branching out to something a bit more interesting like the cajun shrimp topped ones. This was a bit more intense than that. This moved. 

As far as Julian knew, Deep Dish Nine was the only pizza place that offered Gagh as a topping. He looked down at his slice of pizza, taking in the mass of writhing worms that topped the cheese setting his stomach off. Bugs weren’t unheard of as a food source in the federation, although they were much more popular in other parts of the world. Isko had even toyed with idea of tube grub sauce for one of the pasta dishes on the menu, but nixed it when he realized how little demand there was. Even people that liked tube grubs preferred them raw. The sae was normally said of Gagh, it was generally eated plain and raw, maybe with a spicy sauce on the side for dipping, not on top of cheese pizza. It wasn’t even that they tasted bad, in fact, they had a pleasant earthy taste that went well with the sharp cheddar blend Sisko used on this pizza. The fact it moved was what really did Julian in. 

Worf, who of course had been the one to come up with this concoction in the first place, took another large bite of his pizza and washed it down with a swig of prune juice. Gagh was not a popular dish in the federation, but Klingon food had been becoming more popular, something that made him very happy. As soon as he had noted the trend he had alerted Sisko to the opportunity to expand their menu and add more interesting items that would set them even further apart from the other local pizza shops. Sisko loved unique recipes, and most of their most popular dishes were a sort of cultural fusion cuisine. He had even created a whole vegetarian and vegan section of the menu based off of a number of classic Vulcan dishes. Sometimes julian would take an extra order of food into work for the doctors he worked with, a vegetable calzone for Dr. SPock and a spicy chicken one for Dr. McCoy. 

Julian glanced around at his co workers. Sisko was sitting at the end of the table next to Jadzia, eating a slice of barbecue chicken pizza. Kira was next to him with a slice of the house special, a deep dish vegetable pizza that needed to be eaten with a knife and fork. They were chatting happily and obviously enjoying their food, oblivious to Julian’s plight.

“Julian, you do not eat enough, and I am concerned you are not receiving adequate protein from your current diet. Gagh, in addition to being flavorful, has a great deal of protein in it, indeed it has more protein it than most meat does in a similar portion. This makes it an ideal topping for pizza.” Worf folded his crust in half and then pushed it into his mouth, chewing it well. 

Julian rolled his eyes and took a small bite, trying not to let his distaste show. “I know it’s good for me Worf, but it’s pizza! Pizza’s not meant to be healthy.” He took another small bite, wincing slightly at the feeling of the worms wiggling down his throat. “Can’t I just enjoy my food?” He looked up at Worf with large, pleading eyes.

Worf frowned and shook his head. “You eat pizza a minimum of three times a week Julian. Making pizza healthy is the only logical way to make you healthy.” He reached across the table to grab another slice of the Gagh pizza. There was still half a pie left since Mr. Sisko and Jadzia were the only other ones who ate it regularly. “You require protein to keep up your strength.”

Julian sighed and grabbed the little jar of pepper flakes in the center of the table, shaking it vigorously over his slice. If he had to eat it he might as well try and cover the taste as much as possible. He had no idea why Worf was choosing to harass him over his eating habits. He knew for a fact Jadzia ate almost as much pizza as he did. He was so caught up in it he missed the looks Jadzia, Sisko and Kira were exchanging next to him, small smiles on their faces.

Worf watched with raised brows as Julian folded the pizza and managed to swallow it in a few quick bites. Julian’s triumphant grin faded fast though, as the spice of the pepper flakes caught up with him. He coughed, and for a moment thought he could feel some of the worms still caught in this throat, still moving. His eye began to water and he reached out blindly for a drink, hurriedly sucking down the contents of the cup. His eyes widened as he realised he had grabbed the wrong cup, and instead of drinking his own root beer, he was chugging Worf’s prune juice.

Julian made a choking sound and doubled over, clutching at his mouth and stomach, face going red. He slid down in his seat, hands reaching out to desperately claw at the table top. He looked at Worf, eyes watering. Next to hi, Jadzia was bent over almost double in silent laughter, and both Kira and Sisko were laughing into their napkins as they watched him struggle. 

Worf calmly reached across the table and slid the cup that actually contained Julian’s root beer over so the younger man could reach it. He sighed as he watched him grab the cup frantically and down the contents in a matter of seconds. There was no way that amount of sugar water was good for him.

Jadzia leaned over and patted Julian on the back gently. “Are you alright Julian?” She asked, her eyes still crinkled up in a half smile. “You really shouldn’t eat so fast.”

Julian coughed and looked up at her. “I guess it was just so good that I couldn’t help myself.” He laughed weakly.

Worf carefully took another slice of Gagh pizza and put it on Julian’s plate, pushing it over to him. “I am glad you like it.” He pushed the plate a bit closer to Julian. “Here, another. You should eat more and become strong.”

Julian’s eyes went wide at the sight and he turned to look at Jadzia. She simply smiled and patted him on the shoulder. She probably could have said something to Worf, but watching Julian was too much fun. Besides, he was a bit too thin.


End file.
